Blogs from North, Ecuador, South America - page 221

Hola! Yep. Brenna, Ami and I are here in Quito, safe and sound. We arrived late Monday, and Ami's cousin's inlaws picked us up at the airport and took us to our hostal, Posada del Maple. It's been such an exhausting few days that I don't even know where to begin, but unfortunately (not for you, I suppose!) I have to be brief, as I am currently hogging the only computer at our hostal. Our hostal is located in La Mariscal, the tourist district of Quito. Yesterday we wandered around, found lunch and then came back here with the intention of just stopping by and putting on sunscreen. In actuality we all crashed on our beds, and woke up with enough time to eat a snack, find an internet/phone cafe, call our folks and then meet ... read more

As we are preparing to say farewell to Ecuador, we didn´t want to end this portion of our blog without sharing some of the wacky Lost in Translation experiences we´ve had here. We now chalk it all up to cultural differences or sometimes just shake our heads.....but nothing surprises us anymore here. Ecuadorian marketing 101: Sex sells. A lot. It´s everywhere in ads here, from Doritos to garbage bags (not kidding) to pirated CD covers...everywhere you turn there´s a half-naked (or completely naked) woman staring back at you trying to sell a product or service....strange considering what a Catholic country this is. No product is immune. Even one of the restaurants in Riobamba was called, we kid you not, "Orgasmo Total". We asked one of the Ecuadorians what "orgasmo" signified in spanish, and his answer wasn´t ... read more

After a 2 day tour of Madrid, where we did very little other than drink sangria and snack on tapas, we arrived in the capital of Ecuador, Quito. The most striking feature of Quito has to be its setting, with every view framed by the imposing slopes of the Andes. Feeling fairly spaced out, we ventured out on a walk of the city and began to find our orientation. Quito has 2 main parts, known as the Old Town and the New Town. The Old Town is far more attractive, with old colonial buildings and public squares in which to watch the world go by. However, it is also located adjacent to the poorer housing and on most of the street corners there are beggars. This is not an area you would want to stroll around ... read more

We´re all checked out of our hostal in Quito, waiting to go to the airport to fly to Peru. This morning, we visited the "Capilla del hombre" (The chapel of man), a gallery and entire space deisgned by native Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guayasamin (there is also an official website). The paintings were very blocky and obviously inspired by Picasso, and a couple of others. He´s quite the national figure and, although the gallery opened a few years after he died (2002), several important local and international figures were at the inauguration, including the president of UNESCO, Fidel Castro, and former French President François Mitterrand. Guayasamin designed the entire building, and the artwork, murals and sculptures inside. Very impressive! He also travelled the world during his life, and most of his art reflects the sufferring and oppression ... read more

Although I´m not usually a big fan of urban settings, Mike took me on a walking tour from Mariscal Sucre to Old Quito. It was like walking backwards in time as the architecture progressively changes from modern, to republican, and spanish Colonial. We started off going through a park with a market replete with all the typical tourist merchandise, probably mass-produced and overpriced. I´m going to see what is available where before buying stuff, although I already got myself a shoulder bag for walking around town. Mike helped haggle the price down for me (He just really likes to haggle). Even in the park, the extreme dichotomy in affluence was apparent: well-dressed business people walking past drunk people sleeping on the grass. A large tree, with the lower trunk painted white to protect it from sunburn, ... read more